- Yes
- No
Description: The Aermacchi M311 is a military trainer/light fighter bomber aircraft that was made by the Italian company Aermacchi. It’s story started back in the nineties when the Italian company Aermacchi started to think of a new trainer aircraft to propose to the Italian Air Force and other possible customers. They chose the already-developed platform of the SIAI 211 made by the Italian company Savoia Marchetti a decade ago. The Aermacchi took one of the S211A (an improved version compared to the normal S211) and used it as the testbed for the new version called the Aermacchi M311. The TEC demostrator was taken in the skies for the first time in 2005, and from that year on, Aermacchi started to sponsor it at a good number of airshows. Compared to its predecessor, it featured multiple upgrades. The upgrades included the installation of a full digital cockpit and a strengthened structure that allowed the aircraft to perform better turns and pull harder G during maneuvers, as well as an increase in the maximum flight life to 15000 hours of flight. The aircraft started to perform various tests in 2007 to test all of its capabilities. The first one was performed in the same year with success in the Arab United Emirates, where it conducted various flight tests in a hot environment to test its performance in different biomes. In 2008, aside from the TEC demo, two other prototypes were constructed and were used again for marketing, especially in South America. Even after all those efforts and trials, the aircraft was not able to be sold to anyone, and it was abandoned. In 2014, it was used as the basis for developing the new M345, but this is another story. Regardless of the armaments, one pilon was added under the fusulage to carry unguided bombs or a 12.7 mm machinegun pod. The S211 was identical to the other four wing pilon rifles. That makes it able to carry all S211 weapons since the pistols are the same as the upgrade made to the S211A, which left them identical to the first model.
Why it should be in the game: it will offer better performance compared to both S211 and S211A, it could be a good option for a good strike aircraft at a lower br compared to other jets of his time since it isn’t supersonic and it doesn’t offer guided weapons.
Specifications
Spoiler
Length: 9.85 m
Width: 8.47 m
Height: 3.74 m
Wing surface area: 12.60 m2
Max Take Off Weight: 9,039 Kg
Engine: 1 × Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5C
Power: 3,190 pound-force
Max speed: 795 Km/h (429 knots )
Range: 1,370 km
Service ceiling: 12192 m
Climb rate: 4,720ft every minute
Take Off Distance: 137 metre - 449.47 feet
Landing Distance: 140 metre - 459.31 feet
Armaments
Spoiler
Machinegun/ Cannons
5x 12.7 mm Machinegun pod
5x Aerea Multi task 12.7 mm machinegun pod
4x 20 mm Cannon pod
4x 7,62 mm double machinegun pod
Bombs:
4x MK82
24x BL100
112x 74 mm Cartridge
4x Matra SAMP250
4x Matra SAMP125
Rokets:
52x Medusa 81 mm
20x Hydra 70 mm
16x SNIA BP Falco 122 mm
4x SNIA BP51 mm rokets launcher
68x Aerea 51 mm
4x Brandt 68-7 rokets launcher
4x Aerea Bomb and rokets dispenser
other type of rokets
Sources
Spoiler
https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/m311trainer/
Aermacchi M-345 - Wikipedia
Alenia Aermacchi M-311 - Price, Specs, Photo Gallery, History - Aero Corner
FLIGHT TEST: Alenia Aermacchi M-311 - Bridging the gap | News | Flight Global
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM: Dal Leonardo S211, all'M311, all'M345 HET sino al T-345A, consegnato in data 23.12.2020 al 61° Stormo
VOLANDIA - Parco e Museo del Volo
Aermacchi (Gruppo Finmeccanica): primo volo del dimostratore avionico dell'M-311
Pictures